The Census asks questions about language use at home to locate groups of people who speak a language other than English. Their isolation or integration into a primarily English speaking community can be determined by their ability to speak English proficiently.
| Language Spoken at Home, 1990-2000 | ||||
| 1990 | 2000 | |||
| Number | Percent | Number | Percent | |
| Only English | 120,906 | 74.78% | 119,812 | 66.91% |
| Spanish | 20,650 | 12.77% | 32,213 | 17.99% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8,816 | 5.45% | 11,920 | 6.66% |
| Asian Language** | 8,024 | 4.96% | 9,553 | 5.33% |
| Other | 3,290 | 2.03% | 5,566 | 3.11% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 161,686 | 100.00% | 179,064 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 19,277 | 59.84% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,817 | 32.02% |
| Asian Language** | 4,623 | 48.39% |
| Other Language | 2,076 | 37.30% |
| Total | 29,793 | 16.64% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 12,599 | 61.01% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,498 | 28.33% |
| Asian Language** | 4,202 | 52.37% |
| Other Language | 1,213 | 36.87% |
| Total | 20,512 | 12.69% |
* "Other Indo-European" excludes English and Spanish. "Indo-European" is not synonymous with "European." French, German, Hindi, and Persian are all classified as Indo-European. Hungarian, on the other hand, is lumped into "Other Language."
** "Asian Language" includes languages indigenous to Asia and Pacific islands areas that are not also Indo-European languages. Chinese, Japanese, Telugu, and Hawaiian are all classified here.
Also note that ability to speak English "very well" is based on the self-assessment of those responding to Census questions, not on a test of language ability.
Source: Census 2000 analyzed by the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN).
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